| Additional Information: | 2015- "This arched-roof, one-story commercial building features a glass wall along its primary (south) elevation. Both the side (west) and rear elevations are comprised of textured brick, while the building’s east elevation includes three storefronts comprised of modern glass windows along the wall’s mid-section, beneath which is modern textured concrete block. The area above the windows is covered with modern metal sheathing. A glass-block tower attached to a hipped-roof entry overhang covered with metal identifies the Family Video entrance.
The subject structure was built in 1964 as a Kohl’s Food Store. Kohl’s was founded by Max Kohl, who was born in Poland in 1901 and immigrated to the United States in the mid-1920s. After first working a factory job, he opened a grocery store at Lincoln and Kinnickinnic avenues in 1927. Despite the Great Depression and its after effects, he would soon expand to include three more stores at the following locations: N. 38th Street & W. North Avenue; N. 38th & W. Vliet streets; and the 3700 block of N. Teutonia Avenue, the lattermost of which is identified as the prototype of a supermarket. It wasn’t until 1946 that he introduced the supermarket concept, complete with deli and bakery counters. The eventual dome shape of his supermarkets was derived from the design of the Penn Fruit Company store in Philadelphia; the first of which was built in 1950. In 1962, Kohl’s introduced its first department store. As of 1969, the Kohl’s Food Store chain had expanded beyond the Milwaukee metro area and had become “Wisconsin’s largest independently owned food chain.” As of 1979, however, the family stepped down from management and the stores operated as a division of the British-American Tobacco Company. A & P purchased the food stores in 1983 and all stores closed as of 2003, including the S. 76th Street store. The subject structure was remodeled for use as a Family Video store, which erected a new entrance canopy to the east, as well as a glass block tower. Two additional businesses--Subway and Marco’s Pizza--have storefronts along the building’s east elevation. The original large, arched interior has since been partitioned off for the three businesses."
-"W National Ave- S 76th St to S 70th St", WisDOT #2410-00-07, Prepared by Heritage Research, Ltd. (Schnell), (2015). |
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| Bibliographic References: | Permit date, 12 May 1964; estimated cost, $300,000; contractor, Hunzinger Construction.
2015 citations:
Building permit for 1715 S. 76th Street, 12 May 1964, estimated cost, $300,000; “Kohl’s Founder Expanded, Built a Fortune,” The Milwaukee Journal, 11 June, 1969; Gordon L. Randolph, “Kohl Family Is Always Looking Ahead,” The Milwaukee Journal, 1 August 1972, Northridge insert, 6; “Private Funeral Services today for Max Kohl, 80,” The Milwaukee Sentinel, 15 December 1981; “Kohl’s Arch-roofed Food Stores,” The Andrew Turnbull Network blog, Available online at www.andrewturnbull.net/digging/ kohls.html, Accessed in October 2015; “Kohl’s Food Store,” Determination of Eligibility, Prepared by Gail Klein, GLARC, February 2012. |
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